Downtown Bellevue Streets Blocked for Bomb Squad Investigation

Several streets of downtown Bellevue were blocked during the evening commute Wednesday evening as the Bellevue Police Department bomb squad investigated a suspicious item thrown out of a car into the Washington Federal Bank parking lot.

Cars were routed away from the streets, including detoured into the parking lot of the Bellevue Village QFC and Bartell Drugs across the street, as police determined what the item was.

Update: 7:30 p.m.

Just after 6:30 p.m., Bellevue police determined that the item was not a bomb, though information was not immediately available on what the item was.

The Washington Federal Bank, located next to the Bellevue Square northwest parking garage and across the street from the Bartell Drugs on 100th Avenue Northeast and Northeast 8th Street, was evacuated around 4 p.m. after a witness said a man driving by in a green Toyota Camry threw a pipe into the bank parking garage.

The bomb squad deployed its robot to investigate the item and around 6:30  p.m., determined that the item was not a bomb.

Original story:

The Bellevue Police Department bomb squad investigated a suspicious device Wednesday evening downtown in the area of the the Washington Federal Bank at 100th Avenue and NE 8th, one block from Bellevue Square.

Bellevue police were asking drivers and pedestrians to avoid the area. A robotic device was reportedly sent toward the device at about 5:40 p.m., and traffic was being directed around the area.

Officer Carla Iafrate, Bellevue Police Department spokeswoman, said that at about 4 p.m., a witness saw a man in a green Toyota Camry throw a pipe out of the car, then drive away.

It was a short metal pipe, and Iafrate said it had the words "blow up" written on it.

Parking appeared to be restricted in a portion of the garage on the west side of the mall.

Patch will update this story as more details become available.

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